Instead of defining parcels by polygon, point, or circle, users can upload an ESRI Shapefile. To do this, you will need a zipped shapefile, and be on the defining parcels page of your project (either croplands or forestry). 


  1. Log into your COMET-Farm Account
  2. Go to the Tool page
  3. Select/create your project
  4. Define activities (parcel definitions are needed for forestry and cropland accounting)
  5. Select upload ESRI Shapefile from the panel on the left
  6. Select browse to locate the zipped shapefile (users made to select all file types to find the .zip file)
  7. Specify the parcel identification field. This needs to be a field (column in the attribute table) that is unique for each parcel. The image below is the .dbf file viewed in excel. The parcel identification field should different for each parcel (when you have more than one). For this example, I used FieldName as the unique parcel ID. 
  8. Select upload


The sample shapefile is attached for users to try. If viewing this article in the widget within the COMET-Tools, please select the open button (image shown just below this) to open this article in a web browser. All attachments will appear at the bottom of the page. 


For incomplete shapefile upload:

  1. Try uploading again, and select overwrite existing areas
  2. Check your projection: the best projection to upload is Lambert conformal conic
  3. Check to make sure the shapefile is complete; compare your unzipped file to the AlleeDemoFarm example
  4. Inspect your attribute table in the .dbf file
    1. Did you use a unique field identifier?
    2. Do you have too many parcels? (COMET recommends no more than 15 parcels and/or 1000 acres per project to ensure the platform runs as expected). If so, we'd recommend splitting up the shapefile(s).
    3. Do you have duplicated rows?
    4. Do you have an incomplete table?
  5. Check if you have a file within your zip file. You should NOT have a file within the shapefile. 
  6. If you have checked all these off an are still unable to upload the file, please email us with the file, so we can troubleshoot with you.